Inter Milan are out of the Club World Cup: Fluminense stun Champions League finalists in scorching Charlotte heat as Brazilian side advance to quarterfinals with incredible 2-0 win

Fluminense recorded a stunning 2-0 win over Inter Milan to reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals.

The Champions League runners-up started the game as favourites but were left shell-shocked as the Brazilian side took an early lead. In just the third minute of the game, Fluminense took advantage of Inter's sloppy defending as Rene won the ball and found Jhon Arias on the right flank. The forward made a run and attempted a low cross. The ball took a deflection off an Inter defender and went straight to German Cano inside the six-yard box. The Argentine striker comfortably headed the ball into the net, leaving Yann Sommer bamboozled.

In the 12th minute, Inter had a great chance to restore parity when Henrik Mkhitaryan did well to control the ball inside the Fluminense box before feeding a pass to Federico Dimarco, who attempted a pile driver from close range but Fabio did well to keep the ball away from goal.

Fluminense almost doubled their lead minutes before the half-time whistle as Ignacio Oliveira found the back of the net with a clinical header from a brilliant team move but the goal was ruled out after VAR gave it an offside.

The Serie A giants had their best chance of the match to equalise in the 70th minute when Lautaro Martinez did an excellent job in keeping a curling cross in play by heading it towards the dangerous area. Stefan de Vrij was in the perfect position inside the six-yard box to slot the ball home but he was caught flat-footed as his first-time attempt went wide from close range.

Martinez got three consecutive chances in a span of seven minutes to pull one back for his side, but he was twice denied by the opponent goalkeeper Fabio, while his third attempt came off the crossbar.

Fluminense finally sealed the fate of the game in the 94th minute when Brazilian midfielder Hercules doubled the team's lead and sent his team to the next round.

While Cano did score the all-important winner with great precision, it was the Fluminense backline, under the leadership of veteran Brazilian defender Thiago Silva, who stole the limelight with a power-packed performance throughout 90 minutes against the giants of European football.

Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZN

Stream now

De Vrij had a night to forget as his costly mistakes led to his team's elimination from the Club World Cup. The defender was the first Inter player to lose possession in his own half, which helped Fluminense break the deadlock early in the game. In the second half, the 33-year-old failed to convert a gilt-edged chance as his first time attempt went wide.

Fluminense will now meet the winners of the round of 16 clash between Manchester City and Al-Hilal in the last-eight stage on July 4 at Orlando.